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On to the engine covers, I guess...see what I can remove and bring home to the heat...still waiting on machinist for fork parts...need a break in this cold! Saturday is supposed to be in the upper 30's, so hopefully I will get some time on the engine/frame cleanup...baby steps...SO ready for this winter to be over!

Grumpy Ole Artist wrote: Can't say enough nice things about Z1 enterprises...I LOVE it when those selling me parts know more about my vehicle than I do...priceless! Got a BEEG box of parts the other day...Fork emulators, progressive springs. carb mounts,Hagons, x-ring chain, new sprockets, copper exhaust gaskets, and a V&H header....Temps are gonna be in the 50's tomorrow, so half day at work! Since I have "denuded" the front of the bike, am planning on taking advantage of the weather and no front end/exhaust in the way...give her a good "scrubby dubby" mask off engine, and paint the neck/frame as far to the rear as the bike hoist underneath will permit...Triple trees are ready to go back in with all balls bearings in place...A little machine work on the damping rod, re-assembly with racetech & progressive parts, and the forks will be ready to go back in...once mounted, and she's back on terra firma again, gonna move to the rear end...2nd verse, same as the first...strip her down a bit, scrub/wipe down and hit the frame with some paint....R &R chain and sprockets, mount new Hagons, After that, re-jet carbs, mount up new header, and see how good Jeff S. was at guesstimating jet sizes! Stuff is really starting to happen now...Am so stoked...Can't WAIT for Spring! Has anyone out there ever rebuilt the steering lock? Pic in FSM makes it look like it might be repairable, but DOGGED if I can figure out how it comes apart...It is locked up tight !after reading of the thievery at Berkley last weekend, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to address this issue, if possible. Thanx, all, C'mon Spring!

VERY NICE BIKE!! Great Effort saving it!!
I couldn't agree more about Z1E!! They are GREAT!!
Regards
Ed

Very nice save!!! I love those 650's. Love those 550's, love those 900's, 1000's, 1100's etc. Great job Grumpy!

Thanx guys, she's a work in progress...Gotta way to go, but at leastI can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Pitch dark out, 27 degrees of mercury showing on the front porch, and a bike just went by...keep seeing this cat out...he rode by the shop the other morning and it was down near zero! Can't tell WHAT kinda gear he is sporting...nothing bulky...full face with an 8 inch mohawk on it...me? I am warm on the couch, buffing stuff! Got this cover off fleabay via USPS today...cleaned up pretty well! (Original had a broken tab where the front bottom bolt is supposed to go!) Gotta get in the garage tomorrow, and pull something else off...might be buffing on my back for some of it...I don't have any leaks now, and why make trouble? (It is easier on the couch though!) Carb bits and cam cover, fer sure! C'monnnn spring!

Temps hovering around 40 yesterday...had a good garage day...scrub and buff, like ya can't get enough! Got cam cover off, gonna take forever to polish...pretty rough, and lotsa recessed areas...oy! She's coming along nicely, though!

Lookin' good! On the cam cover, the 4 end caps were smooth and a bit polished from the factory, but the rest of the cover has a somewhat grainy texture, so getting that part to a really smooth shine isn't in the cards. It can have a nice clean sheen to it though if metal polish is used on it, and the end caps can be polished up pretty nicely. Ed

HI Grumpy, I thought you would enjoy seeing these.

KZ650 SPARKLE

I happen to know a bit about this bike. Never was neglected since new. So I'm sure was much easier to polish up a bit.

Thanx Ed! I guess that what I was assuming was old corrosion,(although VERY crusty!) is actually a rough casting...As much as I would like the whole cover to be a mirror finish, that would entail painting the underside of my tank, so as not to reflect the original Red...sooooo, mebbe I'll focus on the end caps, and call the cam cover "good" ! Ya gotta pick your battles! Joe, that FB link wouldn't work....I do likes me some sparkle though!

Sorry about that, I think you have to be logged into facebook to see it.

Here you go.

Yeah, I tried briefly re-activating my FB account...still wouldn't come across with the goods...Looking good! Apparently, I am going to have to get some sort of buffing wheel for my drills...I am tickled with where I have gotten so far, (10x better than what they were!) but those covers are just a little bit "chromier" ! They yours? If so, not only do you have my buffing beat, (for now, dernit, for now, LOL!) but you got them in clear focus too! Kudos! And thanx for the kick in the ass! LOL!

No not mine. I had a funny thing happen to my bike a couple of weeks ago. Left the garage open early one morning where the bike sits and later that day took a look underneath the blanket covering the bike after noticing condensation on the stator cover. There was condensation on the entire bike, tank, engine, etc... Had no time to wipe it off and figured it was harmless. When i checked the following week I notice my shiny cases and forks were dull and had corrosion. Took some mother's to it yesterday but will need to use the drill with the buffing wheel on it to get it back up to par. Its been good for almost 2 1/2 years until this happened.